Kelly’s 4 Mile Shamrock Run

Yesterday I ran my first race since the Jingle Bell Jog 5k on December 4th – that’s more than 3 months without a race! I had been debating whether or not I should run this race, as I had an 8 mile run scheduled for the day before. Unfortunately I was in a funk on Saturday and ended up not running. Decision made – this race was on!

I made sure to set my alarm for a little earlier than normal due to daylight savings time and my habit of hitting the snooze button several times. I got up, showered, ate a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs, an English muffin, and a juicy orange. It was pretty chilly outside (30 degrees!) so I bundled up in a long-sleeve base layer, long-sleeve top layer, vest, gloves, and earmuffs.

The race was sponsored by a local restaurant at registration was held inside. I was kind of disappointed by this part of the race. While it was cheap (only $16!) the t-shirts are white cotton with the race logo on the back – but the Budweiser logo on the front. Ick. (Yes, they were a sponsor, but it’s not the nicest thing to be on the front of a race shirt.) There were also no race bibs or chips for timing. I would gladly have paid a couple dollars more for those two things. Oh well.

The race started at 9:30, and I ‘d guess that there were a couple hundred people there. My town has a pretty big running community, and they all turn out for local events. There was no start line to cross, so even though I was in the middle of the pack I started my watch/Nike+ when the gun went off.

The course went down many streets that I run on a regular basis, and it felt nice to feel familiar with it. There were also tons of gorgeous historic home to look at along the way.

Here’s the Nike+ screenshot:

And a new feature on the Nike+ website – mile splits!

Um, a sub-10:00 mile? I guess that speed work I’ve been doing is paying off! The last time I ran a 4 mile race was Thanksgiving 2009, and I ran that in 42:09.

Around mile 2.5 my Achilles started to feel really tight and achy. I kept running until I hit the 3 mile mark, then stopped to quickly stretch and walked for a few seconds. I took a couple more walk breaks in the last mile – I was really feeling it. I had planned on running another 3 or 4 miles after the race to get in the 8 I needed for the week, but once I felt pain I decided against it.

Today was a pretty easy day. I am still feeling a little tired/off from losing an hour Saturday night, but so was everyone else at work today. Coffee was definitely needed this morning!

I did some strength work at the gym and ran 2.5 miles. I’m scheduled for a 40 minute tempo run, but 3 days of running in a row is not a good idea for me! Instead I’m planning on a spin class and some weights. I used to go to spin class once a week or so at my old gym, and with the increase in running I really miss it. And truth be told – I like someone telling me what to do while I’m working out!

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One thought on “Kelly’s 4 Mile Shamrock Run”

Stumbled upon your blog and found it so neat! Great job on all you’ve accomplished so far and keep up the GREAT work!!!!

Thought I would pass this along, since I just read you were having some Achilles pain. Performance Spine & Sports Center, http://www.performancespinecenter.com, is a great place to get great advice/treatment for running aches and pains. Something in your gait could be irritating your lower leg, or there could perhaps be some muscle tightness/weakness/dysfunction.